Blood Commodities: BlackRock’s Role in the Ukraine Carnage
Ukraine has become a symbol for all those who understand war is a tradeoff in money for blood. There has been no negotiation to end hostilities because the money does and will continue to flow by the tanker load, optimized by investors. With this in mind, let’s briefly examine who stands to gain from the death of hundreds of thousands.
BlackRock and JPMorgan top a list of banking pirates raking in profits because of the shifted economics of the Ukraine conflict. Prices for commodities tied to Ukraine and Russia are making investors in these and other firms ecstatic. However, real profit is on the horizon when government and public sector investments in the war-torn country have soaked up all the financial loss of the people of Ukraine and its decrepit government. We can already see what's happening via Financial Times writer Brooke Masters, who says BlackRock, JPMorgan, and others will step in and take a privileged deal based on their “donation” of advising services. This is how Masters framed the current situation:
“No formal fundraising target has been set, but people familiar with the discussions say the fund seeks to raise low-cost capital from governments, donors, and international financial institutions and leverage it to attract between five and 10 times as much private investment.”
JPMorgan already has Ukraine as a client since 2010 over raising monies to alleviate the country’s previous debt. BlackRock, which currently has $9.4 trillion in assets under management (AUM), makes a killing across every market in the world. A big chunk of BlackRock’s earnings comes from investments in things like Mexico’s local debt.
But, the rabbit hole of greed goes deeper, much deeper. Modern Diplomacy recently reported that more than 500 global businesses from 42 countries have signed the Ukraine Business Compact. This group stands in the wings, waiting to take possession of or make huge profits on construction, materials, agricultural processing, and logistics. For those unfamiliar, Ukraine is the world’s top producer of sunflower meal, oil, and seed and one of the biggest exporters of corn and wheat. Since Zelensky repealed a law on selling agricultural land in Ukraine, U.S. and Western European agribusinesses are buying millions of hectares of Ukraine’s farmland. According to the reports from the IMF, ten private companies control most of it.
For the heck of it, let’s summarize a scenario where BlackRock and others of Zelensky’s backers work to ensure their profits. So, Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering discontinuing the grain corridor from Ukraine through the Black Sea. Eyeballing staggering market changes, Larry Fink of Blackrock gets on the horn and calls his puppet in the White House. To make damn sure Putin has no choice but to nix the deal, the U.S. and the Brits orchestrate blowing up the Kerch Bridge again. Only this time, much more effectively using either advanced sea drones (or U.S. Navy SEAL divers on leave from Little Creek, Virginia). Boom! Bread prices in Germany and the rest of the EU jump, but the U.S. State Department and the new European Nazis holler, “Putin is starving Africa!”
Fortunately, most of us know the grain goes to the EU first and to starving people in Africa last. Meanwhile, Egypt bought 600,000 tons of Russian grain in May, and its ministers say, “Russia’s withdrawal from the grain agreement will not have a major impact on the market.”
Blackrock, Cargill, Monsanto, and others make more money (see 2014 report), the devastating Kremlin reprisal will destroy more infrastructure for loans to rebuild, and the blood continues to be the chief exchange medium for Larry Fink (see his donations to Zelensky visitor Lisa Murkowski and others) and the other finks in the West.
An earlier version of this story was published at New Eastern Outlook
